BEACH AND COVE GliAVELS. \l 



existence of ice. The pressure and liead of water necessary to drive streams 

 up and over sucli hills could be secured only in chaiuiels or tunnels within 

 the ice. 



IMARINE DEPOSITS A^TD GEOLOGICAL WORK OF THE SEA. 



The geological surveys of both Jackson and Hitchcock presented 

 abundant proof that clays and sands containing marine fossils are found in 

 Maine far above the present level of the sea. Lists of fossils were pub- 

 lished, and these were afterwards enlarged by Packard and Shaler. Fossils 

 from these beds have been collected by numerous observers, including Mr. 

 C. B. Fuller and Dr. Wilham Wood, of Portland; Prof. C. H. Fernald, of 

 Orono ; Prof. L. A. Lee, of Brunswick, and Prof. R. Stanley, of Lewiston. A 

 fine collection of these fossils, made at Gardiner and known (from the donor) 

 as the Allen Collection, is now in the cabinets of Bowdoin College. The 

 highest level at which fossils have been found, so far as known, is 217 feet 

 (Hitchcock's report). There can be no accurate study of the drift without 

 distinguishing between marine and glacial gravels. ■ It therefore becomes 

 necessary to describe in some detail the nature of the Avork which the sea 

 has done over that part of Maine which in the so-called Champlain time 

 was submerged in the ocean. 



BEACH AND COVE GRAVELS. 



At hundreds of places along the coast I have examined the slopes of 

 the higher hills for traces of old beaches. For the same purpose many 

 of the islands were visited, the most important of which lie farthest from 

 the coast, viz, Monhegan, Matinicus, and Ragged islands. Isle an Haut, and 

 Mount Desert. 



The best place, perhaps, to begin our investigation is at the island of 

 Monhegan. This island is located 9 miles off the mainland at Pemaquid 

 Point, is surrounded by pretty deep water, and is consequently far from 

 shore ice and exposed to the full force of the ocean. The central parts of 

 the island form a sort of plateau, from which several small hills rise to a 

 height of 120 to 150 feet above the sea. The marginal slopes are rather 

 steep on all sides, except at a few narrow coves and on the west side, where 

 there is a small sand beach, also the harbor, partially ^^rotected by the 

 neighboring island of Mananas. The island is about 2 miles long from 

 northeast to southwest, and its breadth is about three-fourths of a mile. 



